MewtwoB
by MDude
Summary: It began as a simple job trip....but Mewtwo changed that...and one unlucky soul's life forever. Now, Matt Thomas finds a direction in life. To take vengeance for his brother's death...in Mewtwo's blood.
1. Chapter 1: A Walk on the Island

1.1 Chapter 1  
  
  
  
15 years. That's how long it had been since Alex left my family. The break in at the fair was the last thing we've heard of that let us know that Alex was still alive. It did little to help us know about him now. A person in Alex's position could easily be dead right now, decaying alone at god knows where.  
  
Despite this, life had to go on. I grew up, and went through school with what a person would consider nice grades. Bs, Cs, and occasional As were what appeared on my report cards. I couldn't take all of the credit for myself, because David was a big help to me. He had proven himself to be more dedicated to school than Gerald and I ever were. He did nothing to hide his passion for science and technology, which led him to major in any course involving them. Although I learned a few things from taking classes with David, I still knew little when compared to him.  
  
He was so advanced in those fields that a job was offered to him. It was a position involving a secret project that was based away from the Kanto main land. David immediately took the offer, excited about his new occupation. David wouldn't do so little as talk to me about what they did there. My desire to know what was making David stay wherever he was working for so long only grew as time passed. Eventually, David was able to let me come see the place that was New Island. The idea of it was that I might be able to find a job there, one that didn't rely on taking money from beaten trainers. My pokemon battling earned the money I wanted and needed, but I knew that I couldn't do it forever. It seemed to be the time to move on, to more advanced, and hopefully higher-salary jobs. Hopefully, it would be at the same place where David had found his footing.  
  
I found myself staring at the seemingly endless blue that was the sea. All the while, David drove us on a speedboat to the island. We may have used a helicopter, but it seemed that there weren't any available for the scientists to use now. This wasn't a concern to me, since if felt so relaxing and tranquil to be out in the sea like this, a far cry from the usually noisy experience of a helicopter.  
  
I let out a relaxed sigh before I said, "It's peaceful out here, David."  
  
David smiled. "Yeah, it is. You tend to get used to it when you've been out here a lot." A light sigh followed, before he said, "I know that you wanted to see this for a long time".  
  
"Of course I would want to see this secret project. It must be important if it's consumed your life for most of the past 3 months." I kept my gaze on the water, looking at the underwater forms of what I thought were magikarps gracefully swimming by.  
  
David fell into silence as his gaze concentrated on the world in front of him, until something seemed to catch his attention. He looked over his shoulder to me, his hands still on the wheel. "Look ahead, Matt!"  
  
I followed David's words and brought my vision from the waves to the horizon. It was hard to see at first, but as my eyes focused, I noticed the sight of an island with a small building on its top, gradually becoming larger and more distinct as we approached it. "Is that it?" I asked.  
  
David smiled. "Yes, that is it. That is New Island."  
  
----  
  
New Island was a small spec in the middle of the ocean, that couldn't be denied. Still, the huge, dark and rocky underside of the island combined with the lab that I knew sat at the top, easily made me feel small. David carefully and slowly brought the speedboat to a stop against the old, wooden docks of the island, the boat's engine dying down from a calm hum, into silence.  
  
Once David was sure that the boat was deactivated, he carefully stepped onto the wooden platforms, causing them to creak in protest. "Watch your step." He said as he turned to me and held his hand out.  
  
"Don't worry about me." I said as I graciously took David's hand and joined him. "I can swim."  
  
He made a small smile and nodded. "Come on, let's go." I followed him away from the boat, onto a hard, concrete stairway. Eventually, the path lead us into a cave that was immersed in a blanket of darkness. Only the glow of a few light bulbs that hung from the ceiling gave light to the otherwise purely back cave. I said, "Geez, David It really is dark in here. Did you people ever consider a better lighting budget?"  
  
David casually shrugged as he kept walking. "You really don't care about things like that when there is something much more important to worry about nearby." Words like that would only increase a person's desire to know the secret of the island. I wasn't an exception.  
  
The light at the end of the darkness came closer, until the both of us emerged from the cave, onto a steel walkway connected to the side of the island. I looked up, to see more of the island's rocky design and a small hint of the lab at the top. The sound of water crashing against the island brought my eyes downward to see the sight of it.  
  
I was taken from the view when David said, "Come on. If you wanted to see the ocean, you could have just gone to Fuchsia Beach or Pallet Bay." After a few more minutes of walking, we stood in front of huge metallic door at the end of the stairway. Attached to the door was a small card reader. David casually brought a hand into his lab coat and pulled out a small security card. David slid the card through the reader, causing it to beep and say in a recorded human voice, "Access granted." The door slowly slid aside, revealing what I have been waiting to see for a long time. The place where David had spent so much of the past three months. The New Island Lab.  
  
----  
  
As I followed David, I took in the surroundings. I looked at the huge electronic equipment that beeped, hummed and whirred calculations and commands. Scientists had filled the room; far too busy discussing their own business to pay attention to who had just walked in. David didn't seem to be affected by it at all.  
  
He said, "Don't worry about it. They're always worrying about their job." I gave a small nod in response to David as my eyes still wandered around, searching for a new sight to see in the isolated lab. I felt a light tapping on my shoulder from David, causing me to turn my gaze upon him. He gestured to an older looking man with weird gray hair and a beard. "That is Dr. Fuji, the leader of this project." I didn't find it unnatural at all. It mostly seemed to be that people losing the advantage of youth would be the ones leading big projects like this.  
  
I made a small nod for David, right before giving him a question. "How did he get the funding for all of this?"  
  
I took notice of the hesitation that briefly showed on David's face. What reason could he possibly have for worrying about such a simple question? After a few moments of silence, he spoke to me in low tone, almost a whisper. "He has taken funding from Team Rocket."  
  
At the least, his reply shocked me. David, a man who I had admired so much, was actually involved with that gang of cutthroats, liars and thieves? Suddenly, the job didn't look so appealing anymore. The career was nothing more than existing as worker beedrills for Team Rocket. There had to be some kind of reason for David to do such a thing, and I needed to know it.  
  
"How...could you actually be working with somebody in Team Rocket?"  
  
"He has good intentions," David replied. That was it? He works for a criminal organization with the sole justification of good intentions!? Before I could take the debate any further, David quickly cut my answer off with the words, "There is somebody I want you to look at." I made a light sigh before slowly nodding. It didn't matter if he dodged my question; he'd have to answer sooner or later. David led me through the crowd of people to a female scientist. David smiled and said, "Look at her, Matt."  
  
She had long, soft brown hair and kind, brown eyes. All of her dimensions seemed perfect to me; it was a small guess, considering her lab coat. Her breasts weren't at an idiotically big size, but they were there. Her rear didn't look like a replica of the moon, but I could see the curves easily. She wasn't anorexic, but she wasn't a blob of a woman either. From what I could see of her face, it looked like a gorgeous one. She was sitting at a desk, typing something on a computer. She looked beautiful, but I wouldn't give my brother the satisfaction of knowing that he had showed me a girl that I thought looked fantastic.  
  
"She looks okay," I said with a disinterested tone.  
  
"Suuuuuure," David replied while elbowing me in the side. Either he knew that I was lying, or he was guessing. If I had to take a choice between the two, I'd choose that he knew.  
  
"Okay, David. I want to see the reason that so many scientists are here," I said. The woman was a nice distraction, but I wouldn't take anymore. If David was not going to give me a good reason for him working here, then at least he could show me what I wanted to see; the secret experiment that the scientists were working on.  
  
A look of concern appeared upon David's face as he asked, "Are you sure? You may not like what you see."  
  
I dismissed his concern and quickly replied, "I'm ready for anything." Nothing was going to hold me back now. I wasn't going to wait 3 months and come out to this island, only to turn around moments before seeing the experiment I wanted to see for so long.  
  
"Ok. You were warned," David said. Yes, I was warned, and I didn't care.  
  
I followed David away from the woman and other scientists to an area of the lab that seemed to be less congested, despite the scientists that walked around while writing things onto their clipboards and the scientists off to my left, doing something away from my attention. I looked to my right to see what looked like a huge and ancient picture. A member of the extinct mew pokemon was crudely drawn onto its hard, stone surface. David remained perfectly silent as he stayed behind me; I could only think that he wanted to save his words for when my attention went to the experiment.  
  
A look to my left revealed what the other scientists were doing. They were operating and checking what looked like a gigantic computer. Their eyes were completely locked on the thing's screen as they typed and wrote their energy away. From what little I could hear from them, it seemed that they didn't know the meaning of friendly conversation. They only spoke about their job like it was their life's work. The sheer size of the machine made it clear that this computer meant a lot to this experiment. That presented the only problem; what was the experiment?  
  
With the question in my mind, I let my gaze drift to the world in front of me. I beheld dozens of cylinder tubes that were made of glass. Inside each of the tubes was some kind of strange fluid that had an orange coloring to it. I stood in thought for a moment as I tried to think of possibilities for the fluid. Could it be that this was some type of specialized fuel system? I continued to wonder about the purpose of the fluid until I noticed something inside of one of the tubes. From where I stood, it was too far away to recognize, but I wanted to know what it was. I let curiosity take control of me and bring me closer to the single tube as David followed.  
  
I asked, "Is that it?" as I continued to walk to it. David only gave me a sigh, which I translated into a, "yes." My walking continued until I stood only inches away from the tube. The haze of the liquid was no longer thick enough to warp by view of the thing, so I was able to witness it with good detail. My eyes widened in shock as I gasped at the sight. I blinked repeatedly, hoping that what I saw was only a hallucination. The hallucination wouldn't go away, it continued to float in front of my eyes, causing me to take a few steps back in shock. David gave another sigh as he slowly brought his hands behind his back. The only words that escaped my lips were, "Oh.God."  
  
The creature inside the container was at the area of 7 feet tall. It's long tail and the area just above its legs were purple while the rest of its body had a light lavender tint to it. Its huge and round thighs seemed to be filled with muscles in every possible spot. Short shins connected those big thighs to long feet with 2 digits and a knob on the side. I dully guessed that the thing would stand digitigrade.  
  
Its thin upper body held a vague human resemblance, but it still looked far too different to qualify as human. What looked like a plate of armor securely covered its chest, shoulders and back from harm. It had arms that looked thin and delicate, more so than most women. Those arms ended in paw like hands with 3 stubby fingers, each having a round knob on their end. It would probably be impossible for those hands to ever operate something like a gun. What looked like a tube protruded from the creature's back and connected to the back of its head. It's short and pointy ears protruded from the top of its head while ridges rested above its eyes. It's face came to a short muzzle with a small mouth and nostrils. I couldn't learn the shape or color of its eyes, because they were closed shut.  
  
I couldn't believe what I was seeing. This creature.did they actually create it? Their experiment was making this thing!? I faced David with my expression still frozen in surprise. I barely stammered out, "Wh.. W.Wha.?" The pure shock of seeing such a creature had left me breathless. I wanted to speak as clearly and confidently as ever, but that dormant creation was more than enough to ruin my trains of thought.  
  
David calmly answered my senseless words. "That.is Mewtwo." Upon hearing the name, I instantly darted my attention to the mew picture, then back at Mewtwo. There was a similarity between the thighs, tail nodes, coloring and basic skull shape; other than that, they looked like completely different forms of life.  
  
I used a few moments of silence to calm myself before I spoke again. I needed to know how that thing was ever born into this world. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before I asked, "You created that thing? You created a life?"  
  
"Yes, we did. Well, they did for the most part. I was only here for 3 months, you know." With a sigh, I turned my gaze back to mewtwo. I never tried to decipher David's reasons for mentioning his amount of time on the project. He could have been trying to defend himself, or he could have been just stating the facts. Either way, he had contributed to creating a life, a new pokemon. Calling it human would have been nothing more than a sick joke.  
  
Out of nowhere David asked, "Do you think that Alex would ever have mercy on us for this?" It was a question that caught me off guard, but I quickly accepted and wondered about it. When Alex left, he seemed to hate people controlling pokemon in anyway. If he were alive, he would probably be totally disgusted at what these scientists had done to nature. For nobody, would he hide his hatred of such abuse to life.  
  
It was those thoughts of nature that moved me to give David a question to consider. "Here is a better question. If it exists.would God ever have mercy on you for this?"  
  
David rapidly blinked to the question a few times, before he began to blankly stare at Mewtwo. The question had probably hit him harder than his had hit me. While his mind drifted, I also stared at the experiment, letting my eyes take in every detail of its body. There.was some kind of weird beauty to it, despite what it was: an experiment. It wasn't a beauty that attracted love or passion, but a weird admiration of scientific advancements. Humanity had the power to destroy ever since their beginning; just recently had we gained the power to create. But.was it right to do it just because we could?  
  
David gave me a soft pat on the shoulder as he said, "Come on Matt. let's get out of here." Like me, he was probably unable to bring any answers to the questions that were thrown into our lives mere seconds ago. Maybe for now, it was for the best that we left those wonders as things that we didn't know. It was a scientist's job to find answers to the questions that even haunt the most educated and rational minds, but I had seen enough of science's accomplishments for one day. I silently nodded to David and followed him away from the glass containers, leaving Mewtwo to its motionless slumber.  
  
As the both of us walked towards the same door that we came through, I couldn't help but feel admiration and disgust at the scientists. The admiration came from their ability to create Mewtwo. Their accomplishment was far beyond the cloning of a mareep done a few years ago. These scientists had taken the DNA of a pokemon species that was supposed to be extinct and used it to make a new pokemon species. Thanks to them, humanity had gained the ability to create new pokemon! This could lead to experiments that were never thought of as possible!  
  
On the other hand, these people were giving away their time to help create something for Team Rocket, one of the biggest crime organizations there were now. It didn't matter if it was a nuclear bomb, or a jigglypuff; the chances were that Team Rocket would find some sick, twisted and evil way to use it to their advantage. There was no way to tell what kind of abilities mewtwo had, but when Team Rocket took it, its uses of violence and death would become crystal clear. With this creation, these scientists were only aiding the crimes and chaos that Team Rocket would cause.  
  
Just as David and I reached our exit, we heard a scientist cry the words, "WAIT!" in our direction. The two of us turned around to see a scientist rushing towards us with a surprised expression on his face. In the background, the other scientists were starting to rush off, towards the direction of the cylinder tubes. Once the scientist noticed our halt, he stopped his running, bending forward and putting his hands on his knees to rest. He looked up to us, talking between breaths. "David.you have to come see this.something is happening with mewtwo!"  
  
I watched without a word as David looked from the scientist, to the doors and then to me. The fact that he was considering staying to find out what was happening was unsettling enough; I just wanted to go home and let my memories of mewtwo fade away. Couldn't David just forget about the experiment for one day and just take me home? It wasn't like the lab would magically disappear in a few minutes.  
  
After a few moments of thinking, David nodded to the scientist. "Come on, Matt. This shouldn't take too long," he said as he followed the scientist away, to the rest of the hurrying crowd. I sighed as I took the only choice left: to follow them. Of course taking the little brother home could wait for checking up on the big experiment for Team Rocket. Hopefully, whatever that sleeping experiment was doing would be short and quick.  
  
The scene that we arrived at was a hectic and panicked one. Silent scientists crowded around the huge computer and the smaller ones around it, their eyes locked upon the flickering screens and their fingers rapidly typing away on their keyboards. Other noiseless scientists stood together in front Mewtwo's tube, feverishly writing notes and records onto their clipboards. Whoever remained just stood and watched from a distance, pure awe on their faces. While the scientist that led us to the site ran off to melt in with the people around the computers, we moved closer to the scientists around Mewtwo. Dr. Fuji seemed to be the most active out of all the scientists, constantly traveling between Mewtwo's tube and the computers. Since he seemed to be the most important of all the scientists, I followed him with my eyes and ears. His constant movement ended when a female scientist at a computer waved him over and said, "Doctor, look at this!"  
  
"What?" Dr. Fuji asked as he stood beside her.  
  
The woman pointed to the screen as she responded with alarm, "Its brainwaves.they're surging!" As her message went to the ears of the other scientists, their silence gave away to excited, worried talking. The alarms activated and buzzed through the lab, but they seemed useless; it looked like every scientist had already come. David joined into the various conversations that were being discussed, his lines of scientific jargon perfectly fitting with the other words being said.  
  
"Here." Dr. Fuji gently pushed the woman aside to get a clearer look at the screen. "Let's run another scan!"  
  
"Its mind is racing!" declared the woman.  
  
My gaze went to Mewtwo, only to receive a jolt of shock from its opened eyes. That's what all of the worried faces and words meant; that's why everybody postponed whatever they were using their time with. Their experiment had awakened! I didn't know whether to be happy to witness it or completely horrified to be in its sights. This was a genetic experiment; there was no way to tell what kind of mind could be hiding behind its purple eyes. It was that lack of knowledge about it that made horror win over happiness. To me, it was far beyond the time to leave this lab and the scientists' experiment to themselves.  
  
From inside the liquid concealment of the glass tube, Mewtwo's eyes began to glow an eerie shade of blue. The illumination spread throughout the entire tube, causing a web of cracks to slowly creep across the container. Larger and more complicated it grew until the container shattered, sending the liquid and sparkling glass shards flying everywhere. As the former contents of the cylinder tube spilled and slid across the floor, Dr. Fuji amongst other scientists quickly turned their gaze back to the freed creation. Neither David nor I had to change our gaze; both of us were watching on as Mewtwo slowly floated from his sleeping position to the damp container floor.  
  
I immediately placed a hand on David's shoulder as I said calmly yet worriedly, "David, I have lived for 25 nice, long years. I don't want to die now."  
  
David swatted my hand off of his coat as he replied. "Don't worry. You're just overreacting. This is a time to celebrate, not fear!" It was clear that David was overjoyed at the situation. His expression was like that of somebody who had won a big contest; too wrapped up in their own victory to pay attention to the world around them. Didn't he care for me more than that damned creature? Couldn't he take his eyes away from that thing long enough to notice the growing fear that was invisibly choking me!? I needed to get away from this lab, away from their created enigma. I needed to be free of this island!  
  
An alarmed voice from one of the scientists yelled, "Radio Giovanni's helicopter! Tell him what's happened!"  
  
Dr. Fuji kept his gaze upon Mewtwo while promptly saying, "Quiet! Let us hear its psychic powers!" At those simple words, the entire lab became filled with silence, despite the faint sounds of a few machines' buzzing and beeping. Every shred of attention was now upon the wet, purple creation at the bottom of its shattered tube. Even I had stopped thinking about getting away, my wonder returning to my mind in light of the sitting, purple life form. I didn't need to think about David; I knew that he was just as curious as everybody else within the lab.  
  
Mewtwo slowly brought its eyes up from the floor, towards the scientists in front of it. The purple orbs seemed to rest upon Dr. Fuji as it began to speak in a male's voice to us. The realization that an experiment like that was speaking in normal English was abnormal enough; the fact that it was an echoing, psychic voice that invaded my and the other scientists' minds made it far more strange. "Psychic.powers?" his telepathic voice asked.  
  
"For years we struggled to successfully clone a pokemon to prove our theories, but you're the first specimen to survive," Fuji explained. He raised a hand to gesture to the mew picture, bringing Mewtwo's and a small amount of the scientists' attention to it. Most of the scientists didn't seem to care for such an artifact now that they would be 'scientific legends.' Fuji continued, "That is mew, the rarest of all pokemon. From its DNA, we created you, Mewtwo."  
  
"Mewtwo?" He asked in wonder as he slowly turned his gaze back to Fuji. "Am I only a copy? Nothing but Mew's shadow?"  
  
Fuji confidently replied, "You are greater than Mew, improved through the power of human ingenuity. We used the most advanced techniques to develop your awesome psychic powers." It wasn't much of a surprise to me, since psychic pokemon were known to have the advantage over many other pokemon. What was fear inducing was the fact that Mewtwo was supposed to be stronger than a pokemon that was said to have powers greater than any other psychic in existence.  
  
A momentary soundlessness fell over the room, before Mewtwo continued to speak mentally, a tone of educated finality evident in him. "So I am simply the end result of your experiment. What becomes of me now that your experiment is over?" I began to concentrate on Fuji, interested in the words that he would answer with. The other scientists still had their eyes on Mewtwo, looking as if they knew what would be their creature's fate.  
  
Fuji answered with a widening grin, "Our experiment isn't over, it's just beginning. Now the real testing begins!" Voices rose from the scientists, quickly washing away the emptiness of silence. They seemed to become totally convinced of their victory, shaking hands, laughing joyously and talking of their future experiments. All the while, Mewtwo appeared to screen their cheers out, slowly bowing his head down to look at his wet, three fingered hands. I brought my attention to David, who was joining into their celebrations. My interest in Mewtwo was satisfied enough for one lifetime, and once again I wanted to get away from the Island. Would the fact that their experiment was successful be enough for him to consider leaving?  
  
"David?" David said nothing to me; he only continued to talk to the other scientists about their future. "David!?"  
  
"What?" David finally turned away from his cheering friends, his smile half faded.  
  
"Let's go," I said, gesturing my thumb in the direction of the entrance. "I don't want to work here anymore, or ever."  
  
David blinked a few times, almost like he was still waiting for me to answer. The smile faded, and his expression became one of shock. "But why? We've just made one of the biggest breakthroughs ever!" David shook his head in denial, "You can't jump out on this opportunity!"  
  
"Watch me."  
  
".Fine. Just let me discuss Mewtwo over there," David looked towards Mewtwo, "for a few minutes and." David slowly trailed off, his eyes shifting from a casual look to one of deep shock.  
  
"What?" I glanced towards Mewtwo, then back to David. "What is it David?" I switched my sights to Mewtwo again, and froze. Still at the base of the tube, his hands/paws tightly clenched, Mewtwo sat, an aura of blue energy emanating from his body. Every tube around him began to crack and weaken, small streams of liquid seeping from the fresh holes. Every word of triumph and cheers from the scientists slowly came to an end, as every eye locked upon the experiment, and almost every mouth hung open. Mewtwo's eyes narrowed in hatred as they began to glow with energy, and the tubes shattered to pieces, spewing forth pools of orange liquid. In the length of a few seconds, the mood of the room had fallen from joyous celebration, to soul wrenching fear.  
  
Before anybody could do so little as say, "What the hell?" Mewtwo threw his hands out from his sides, causing a powerful field or energy to rise and shove all of the people around him screaming onto their rears. As David and I joined the sea of falling people, a smoke-streak of destruction shot out from the floor beneath Mewtwo, going across the floor, flowing up the huge computer and exploding into a huge, fiery blast. Every scientist near the computer was either consumed in the blast, never to be seen again or sent through the sky, their burning bodies leaving momentary smoke trails in the air.  
  
Great numbers of metallic claws shot down from the sky, completely covering mewtwo's body in their grasps. Things seemed to calm for just a second, before all of the hands were knocked away and reduced to shards of metal by a barrier that burst from Mewtwo's body. The weapon brought his deadly gaze in every direction, streaks of smoke followed by screams and explosions coming from every direction that his eyes met and conquered. While we were still on our rears, a streak of smoke cut narrowly between David and I, causing the both of us to roll our bodies away. When the smoke cleared, we silently stared into each other's eyes. I didn't know what David had seen from my eyes, but I knew what I beheld: a man who had been snatched away from his dreams and confidence. Now that Mewtwo had attacked, David now had no more delusions of victory to keep him from realizing the human emotions of shock, and fear.  
  
The two of us rushed to our feet and away from the heart of the disaster. There were no words traded between the two of us, just the force of our fear and the human will to survive. The lab became a red-hot mess of sounds and sights, only the fact that I was running for my life stayed clear in my head; more clear than the flames, the screams, the bodies, the collapsing walls, the exploding machinery, and the putrid smell of embers and death ever became. We ran across the lab, ducking whatever flew at us, braving the heat as it beat down upon us, pretending that exhaustion didn't exist. We would only stop when we were into the dim, white light seeping in through the entrance; the outside world. The light came closer.closer.closer.  
  
"Matt! Watch out!!!" David screamed. I tried to register what David's warning was for, but the rapid pounding of my heart coupled with the looming danger was far too much. The danger was soon brought straight to my senses when David took my arm and pulled me away from a computer console, moments before it was made into an explosion of flames and machinery by another smoke streak. David put himself in front of the blast, covering me with his body as the flames, sparks and metal flew by. The blast was so loud, deafening and thunderous that I barely recognized the sounds of something crashing, and David screaming at the top of his lungs. However, The sight of a comptuer monitor crashing to the floor, and the weight of David's body coming down upon my own were more than enough to give me the message. As the blast finally faded into smoke, David's body fell back, shards of glass cracking under his landing, and a puddle of orange liquid below David's head slowly changing into crimson.  
  
I called out in shock, "DAVID!" as I immediately began to rush towards him.  
  
My advance was brought to a halt when he slowly waved his arm and shook his bleeding head. "Stop Matt!" David screamed, his eyes half open. He moved a shaky, bleeding hand into his lab coat and revealed his boat key, which he quickly threw to me. The glimmering object sailed through the air, before being taken into my hand with one smooth wave of my arm. "Take the keys and go!" What was he thinking?! He was still alive; I could just pick him up and bring him with me! He couldn't give up now! Not when he had me to save him! Through a cough, he faintly said, "Look.up." My eyes swiftly did as he asked, resting upon a slowly expanding hole in the ceiling. Metal, wires and rocks were slowly slipping through its surface, just above David's body. "It's too risky! It can all fall at any moment! JUST GO!!"  
  
I yelled, "No! I can't leave you here!" I knelt beside David, ignoring his cries along with the weakening roof. He may have decided to give up on himself, but wasn't ready to give up on him yet! I would save him, whether he liked it or not! Hurriedly, I began to place one hand under his back, but he roughly pushed me back a few feet and onto my rear. I could only look on in defeat as the roof collapsed onto David, crushing and burying his body under its weight.  
  
The words, "GET OUT OF HERE!" were the last words that I could hear from David before his voice was drowned out into the crashing and buzzing of the horrid collapse.  
  
"DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAVIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIID!!" I ran over to the huge pile of debris that had covered my brother. I desperately tried to move over the wreckage, but it was too heavy. "David! Can you hear me!?" I screamed at the pile. The only answer I received was one that slowly sent shivers of horror into my very soul. Gradually, blood oozed from under the stack of lab remains, forcing my heart to skip a beat. It was then that the clear realization assaulted me without remorse. David.my older brother.was dead. He wasn't going to rise from the pile and say, "It's okay, Matt. I'm here." We weren't going to leave this lab smiling and thinking of the days to come. He was gone.now and forever. "David.... no....no", I said, falling to my knees. One hand reached down to touch the blood, my own brother's blood, while the other hand covered my face. The world seemed to fall away from me as I shed tears for my lost brother.  
  
A blood curdling wail or terror caused me to jerk my gaze away from my dampened hands. My eyes were blurred by the continuous flow of tears emerging from my eyes, but they were clear enough to witness the source of the scream. The horrified cries of the scientist ended when his body slammed into a wall with a thud and the unsettling sound of breaking bones. A pole that was in his hand instantly left his grip as he slowly slid down to the ground, his body leaving a trail of blood on the metal walls. Did he try to stop Mewtwo.with only that pole? After all of the destruction and death that he has rained upon these people.the scientist actually tried to kill him with.a pole? What would posses him to do such a suicidal act?  
  
As the scientist slowly reached a shaking hand out in the direction of Mewtwo, my misty eyes drifted back down to the collapsed ceiling, where my brother's soundless and still body quietly remained buried. Viewing this morbid scene without the immediate shock of it all was enough for me to receive the answer to my question. There was a strong desire in the scientist's heart, strong enough to make him risk his very life. I felt that same desire slowly bind me to its increasing power. It was a power that wanted some kind of justice to this horrific slaughter. It was a justice.that felt right.  
  
The soft feeling of dust falling upon my head, followed by the sight of small rocks descending from above were more than enough to throw my mind back into a clear awareness of the fiery world around me. I allowed no time to think or wonder; the memories of the ceiling collapsing upon David were more than enough to push me to a choice. I swiftly rolled away from David's buried body, barely escaping the fresh collapse of cracked roof tiles, sparking cables and flickering lights. An ear shattering crash of the destruction rang through my ears as I shielded my face from the sparks and broken pieces of metal that were launched at my direction. I stopped rolling, protectively holding the back of my head as the sounds of the collapse gradually faded away into the soft crackle of the fires. I cautiously peered over my shoulder as I brought my hands back over my sweating face, but leaving a space for my eyes to peer through. The spot where David had died was now covered in far more of the lab's decimated ceiling than before. Digging his body out of the mess without Mewtwo noticing would be an impossible task now. My eyes drifted from the pile of machinery, rocks and wires to the scientist who attacked Mewtwo; he had now joined the other scientists in the eternal sleep of death. His eyes were open, but totally glazed over; both of his arms were at his sides while fresh blood rested under his form. At least he died trying to do what he thought was right.  
  
I drew a deep breath into myself before I slowly rose to my feet. My steadily increasing rage against Mewtwo and my strengthening desire to take David's body with me, away from this hell, weren't enough for me to avoid the unavoidable; if I didn't escape from this lab while I had the chance, I would just be another body and another pay check for a grave builder. David wanted me to live, and I wouldn't let my desires destroy his final wish. The faint sky-blue light of the entrance was almost impossible to see amongst the glowing red blazes of the lab, but it still met my searching eyes. I gave David's resting place one last glance, before I rushed off towards the entrance, praying that I would have enough time to escape the slaughter house that was the New Island lab.  
  
More decimated machinery, mangled corpses, and the encompassing fire entered and exited my view within seconds while I went as fast as my feet could take me; yet they didn't gain a shred of my attention. In comparison to the nearing entrance, they were idle stars against one bright, comforting moon. The stars wanted to try to hold to me back, to make me give into their presence; but I wouldn't let myself bend to their desires. The moon was all that mattered. I had to enter its soft light, or I would never see anything else again.  
  
"Help!" A voice called. That simple cry was all that it took to bring me to a halt, a few feet from the entrance. Could it be? Could somebody else really be alive? Was another heart beating in the midst of this havoc? My ears became the guides to my eyes, my gaze turning to meet the direction of the call. Beyond the glow of the fires and the destroyed machinery was a singe hand, waving in the air. I was sure that the person needed help, but I was unsure of how to react. The entrance was so close; I could walk out of the lab and leave the person to fend for his/herself. Besides, it wasn't my experiment that was killing everybody off. It would be a sick form of appropriate justice for the scientist, but it went against my better judgment. The person may have abused life without any care for the consequences, but I would be just as evil if I let him/her die. I gave a small sigh, before running to the helpless scientist.  
  
My view was soon free of the concealing fires, and met by the complete body of the waving form. The same woman that David had showed me earlier was now on the floor beside her desk, a chair positioned on top of her left leg. Her face winced as she slowly tried to pull leg from under the chair, quickly giving me the notion that it was broken. Her gaze hadn't met my presence yet, but that didn't stop me from nearing her and shoving the chair from her leg. The chair slid away from her broken appendage and into a fire, causing it to blacken and burn away. My attention went back to her, just in time to notice the surprised and grateful look on her face. The first words that I ever heard her say were in my direction. "Thank you."  
  
I carefully knelt by her, extending a hand to her as I asked, "Is it broken? You can't move it?"  
  
She replied in a worried tone, "Yes.the chair.it came down on my leg too fast."  
  
I considered telling her that she should be grateful for still having her life, but sympathy for her condition kept me from saying those words. People like that needed words to comfort them through their suffering, which were exactly what I gave. "Don't worry, I'll get you out of here," I replied. With that, I gently brought her arm around my shoulders while slowly standing up. She didn't seem to resist my actions at all as I let my other free hand grasp her side. The weight or hoisting her body upon mine was a burdening one, but the fact that I was saving a life seemed to perfectly make up for it. The bright, white smile that she gave me as I brought her up from the floor only made my decision better. Once we were up, the both of us headed back towards the awaiting exit from this nightmare. There was no longer any reason in sight to risk death any further; I could only wish the best of luck to anybody who was still alive in the mess.  
  
----  
  
It was no sooner than when the woman and I emerged from the flaming, death littered lab when a strange, ominous wailing kind of noise came to my ears. A part of my thinking demanded that I continued down the stairs, but my curiosity also desired to know what belonged to the strange sound. After a moment of self-debate, I turned my face to the side, glancing out the corner of my eye. What I beheld quickly became an image that would haunt me for many nights to come. I meant to just take a glance, use just a few seconds to look at the source; but what my eyes took in was far to horrific to be just glanced at. Like one of hell's worst demons, the murderer hovered amongst parted flames. In front of Mewtwo and surrounded by more of the unforgiving flames was Dr. Fuji, helplessly backed against a wall. The doctor's attention remained locked upon his traitorous creation as a light blue aura began to emerge from its body. That was what the sounds were coming from! Mewtwo was charging his energy! But why was he? It didn't matter! Getting away from this place was the only thing that had to be done, not wondering about the thoughts of a killer!  
  
Just as I began to turn my gaze back to the outside world, the glow caught my eye once more as it intensified, its illumination growing more spectacular. In one swift burst of deadly energy, the soft glow turned into an expanding blast of destruction, engulfing and burning away anything that met its path. Corpses, fires, and machinery all became subject to Mewtwo's power as the growing field of blue fire quickly consumed them. It seemed like the force was a ravenous monster, reaching out to take in everything around itself. The flaming monster didn't seem to be satisfied with only the cold bodies of the dead; it wanted warm, living people to enter and melt away inside its burning belly. Those poor souls were the woman and I.  
  
The words, "Oh shit!" escaped my lips as I brought the woman into my arms and leapt over the rail of the staircase, straight down to the depths of the cold sea. A brief look up from our descent showed the blast blowing the staircase into falling pieces of burning metal. It was no sooner than when I took my gaze below ourselves when we smashed into the ocean surface. The pure impact of the landing was enough to shake the woman from my grasp, but I quickly reached through the slow motion of the water and took a hold of her hand. Leaving a woman with a broken leg underwater to save herself would not have been the smartest and best thing to do.  
  
With her back in my grasp, I returned to the surface of the ocean. Machinery amongst other things from the island flowed down from the surface, into the murky darkness of the sea's bottom, but I didn't let that stop me. Fresh debris wasn't more important than the small problem of a growing lack of oxygen in my lungs. After a few more strokes, we broke through the sea of water into the sea of air, gasping for every fresh breath of oxygen that we could take in. As my gaze once again went upwards, I saw what was left of the very same stairway that we were standing on moments ago: nothing but a few hanging cables and bars. From the devastated doorway and the surface of the island, smoke flowed away into blue skies.  
  
My gaze ended when I heard light coughs come from the woman. I brought my eyes to her dampened face, taking notice of the wet strands of hair that clung to her face. I asked her, "Are you okay?" As I awaited her answer, I had to wonder if anybody could be okay after breaking their leg, almost being burned away and nearly drowning in the time window of 10 minutes.  
  
The woman gave a small, almost unnoticeable nod as she said, "Thanks." I made a small sigh as my eyes drifted back to the smoking doorway above us. I saved her life, but I couldn't save David's. Damn it, if only I was a bit faster.if only I knew.if only.I could do it over again. "Do you hear that?" The woman asked as her head turned up towards the surface. I looked at her in wonder, unknowing of what she was talking about until the sounds of a helicopter pierced my field of hearing. What would a helicopter be doing here now? It was far to early for medical help, as useless as it would be now, to arrive. Hell, chances were that nobody had heard of New Island!  
  
I noticed a sigh coming from the woman, but I didn't bother to pry into the reasons for it. "Come on, let's get you to somewhere you can rest," I said as we began to swim towards the docks. She didn't object to the choice; I guessed that she must have wanted to get out of the water as much as I did.  
  
----  
  
The swim to the speedboat definitely wouldn't break any world records, but it was longer than a person who was holding an adult would prefer. For the entirety of free exercise, the sound of the helicopter continued to faintly ring through my ears. Something was happening up there, but what? The reoccurring thought left my mind when the boat moved into grabbing range. I moved just a bit closer to the boat before I grabbed a hold of one of the woman's hands and placed it onto the boat's rim. "Hold onto the boat," I said as I swam over to the dock's edge. I rested both of my hands onto the wooden ledge, taking a few readying breaths. With one hard heave, I freed most of body from the limitless blue and pushed it onto the docks. I lied there for a few moments, allowing my upper body to make a puddle of water while my legs continued to rest under the blue waves.  
  
The first thought that came to my mind was to rest on that dock for the rest of the day. It wasn't until now when I realized just how tiring this entire situation had been to me. At least I still had my life.unlike David. Now, he would be able to rest forever; I didn't have that kind of fate. If the woman wasn't waiting for me to get her onto the boat, I would have stayed in the position to get a little rest.maybe sleep. Everybody was dead, what harm would it have done? I let out a tired sigh as I gave in to the pain of reality. I stood up, water dripping off all of my clothes as I made my way towards the speedboat.  
  
"Hurry!" The woman said as I stepped onto the shaky speedboat. At least the boat didn't make the unnerving creaking noises like the docks. While I kneeled down to take her hand, I couldn't help but feel guilt because of my careless thoughts. Here she was with a broken leg, hanging onto the boat for dear life. Meanwhile, I was thinking of letting myself rest on that dock. It was a choice between my energy and her life, and her life had easily become the winner. I slowly and carefully pulled the woman into the boat, making sure not to cause the boat to capsize or damage her left leg further. Another problem was the last thing that I needed now.  
  
As I eased the woman onto the backseat of the boat with her leg straightened and popped upon the front passenger's seat, I noticed a change in the noises around myself. The helicopter noise that had constantly rung through my ears for the last few minutes of my life was finally starting to fade away into a calm silence. I shifted my view away from the woman to see the helicopter fly from the same direction it had came from, straight into the invisibility of the clear sky.  
  
The woman's eyes watched the helicopter with mine as she said, "Mewtwo is probably on that helicopter." Her words easily caught me off guard; whoever was flying with a weapon like that was either suicidal, or was too dumb to realize that they were flying with death itself.  
  
With my eyes still on the fading helicopter, I asked, "How are you so sure of that?"  
  
Her eyes focused upon mine as he replied, "That is the same helicopter type that Team Rocket uses when they visit this place." The more I thought about her statement, the more it made perfect sense. To them, the experiment was done and worth taking away; all of the fresh, dead corpses were useless to them.  
  
As much as I utterly hated Team Rocket for what they had done, staying at New Island wouldn't help the woman's leg or me at all. My hand ventured into my lab coat, searching for the keys to the boat. As I did this, I casually asked the woman, "What is your name?" If we were going to be stuck together for the entire trip back to land, we were better off learning names instead of calling ourselves by the word, "you."  
  
"My name is Mary Angel," she said as she closed her eyes, leaning back into her seat. Mary Angel.it was a nice name. It wasn't the most exotic name I've heard in my life, but it seemed to suit her just fine.  
  
"Matt Thomas. It's nice to meet you." I used my free hand to gesture for a handshake while my other continued to search my lab coat. A smile graced her face as she carefully leaned forward and accepted it. I showed her my own smile as I thought of how nice she seemed to be.  
  
The beautiful smile that she pleasured my eyes with faded away, replaced by a look of shock. "Thomas?" She asked as she slowly pulled her hand away from mine. "You must have been David's.I'm sorry." She just had to mention him, didn't she? All that it took for my mood to plummet into the darkness of depression and anger were those simple, kind words. It was at that very moment when I found David's key in my lab coats. Flashes of the key flying through the air into my hand, David screaming for me to leave and the ceiling ending his life all flashed through my mind repeatedly. It was almost like my memories were enjoying my suffering.  
  
I took a deep breath, before I turned my sights away from her. The faint life and gentleness that Mary had brought out of me for those brief moments had totally left me alone to my rage.my sadness.and my newest desire. The desire for revenge. "Don't feel sorry for me, Mary. Feel sorry for Team Rocket and your test tube weapon. When I'm done with them, they'll need all the pity that they can get."  
  
I took one last look at the decimated remains of the island, before I began our journey to the Kanto shore. As I navigated the smooth waves of blue, I reassuringly said, "Don't worry, Mary. We should be at the shore in an hour. Just don't move that left leg of yours, okay?" How Mary responded was something that I didn't find out; I had quickly slipped away into my own tortured thoughts. Once again, it happened. After 15 years of trying to cope with the fact that one of my brothers left me, another one goes away. This time, there would be no wonder if he would ever come back. He was dead, gone forever thanks to Team Rocket and their freakish, heartless monster. Mary probably didn't see it, since I couldn't hear a reaction; but as I focused into the horizon, tears slowly flowed down my face.  
  
Don't worry David. Those bastards will pay, even if I have to lose my own life.  
  
End Chapter 1 


	2. Chapter 2: Aftershock

Chapter 2 

  
  
There we were, Mary, and I in the middle of the ocean. It had been two hours and a half since we left the island. 3:10pm. Mary was sitting next to me, lying back while holding her left leg. I was driving the boat, looking ahead for any sign of land.   
  
Mary spoke for the first time since we left the island. "Do you know where we are going?", Mary asked, apparently worried that we were lost at sea. "Yeah, I know. I am following the direction that the helicopter went in", I said, while holding her hand, trying to keep her calm. The last thing I needed was to be lost at sea with a worried woman who had a broken left leg.   
  
"Thank you for saving my life . . . . . er." "Matt. Matt Thomas," I said, realizing that she had forgotten my name. Oh great. I have just saved her life and she has already forgotten my name! Mary rubbed the back of her head. "I'm sorry that I forgot your name. Matt?" I looked over to her. "What?" "Why did you save me instead of your brother?". I took my eyes off her and back at the wheel. "He was already lost to me when I found you", I said in a hardened tone.   
  
Mary took the message. I didn't want to think about David now. I didn't want to think about watching him die. I didn't want to think about the unholy creation that killed my brother. I didn't want to think about Mewtwo.   
  
The whole scene played through my mind like a tormenter, refusing to have mercy on his victim. The monitor crashing into him. Him throwing the boat keys to me, as if he knew that his time was up. The roof coming down on him. David's death wouldn't leave me. So wouldn't the monster that killed him. Mewtwo was laughing at me, taking pleasure in my pain.   
  
"Look! Is that land?" Mary said in a joyful tone while pointing in the direction of what she was seeing. I set my sight in the direction she was pointing to. It was land! There was a city there too! Fuchsia City! "You're right!" I said happily. I slightly turned the boat so it would go to the Fuchsia City beach. I had to admit, after seeing nothing but water for such a long time, seeing land does feel refreshing. 

----

As we drove closer to the beach, I took in my surroundings. People and pokemon were swimming and surfing around. Multiple houseboats were anchored off the coast, the owners either swimming, having a barbeque on deck, or just relaxing on chairs on the deck.   
  
On the beach itself, people were lying on beach towels in the sun, taking in a tan. Pokemon were either doing the same or battling other pokemon. Girls in wet bikinis ran across the beach, catching the attention of every man within 10 feet of them. Human men, machokes, and machamps flexed their muscles as women went crazy with desire. Across the street was a big hotel.   
  
As soon as we arrived on the beach, I jumped out of the boat and screamed, "This woman has a broken left leg! She needs medical attention!" No sooner than after I made that statement, did medics come and place Mary in a stretcher. I followed them to an ambulance that they probably kept around just in case some surfer took heavy damage while riding a wave.   
  
The medics slid Mary into the ambulance. One of them turned to me and asked, "Are you going with us?" I nodded. I might as well stay with Mary for a while. I could take the bus back to Cerulean City later. I boarded the back of the Ambulance with Mary while the medics went into the front seat of the ambulance. The siren went off, and the ambulance screeched off toward the hospital.   
  
Once again, Mary was the first to speak. "So Matt. What is your job?" I responded, "Well, I really don't have a job. I was considering going into a career as a scientist, but that is out of the question now". Mary said with a look of wonder on her face, "Well, how do you stay alive?" I responded, "Well, have been earning money from Pokemon matches so far. I can't do that for the rest of my life, though". I took a moment from my talking to sigh.   
  
"I guess that I could do what Mom and Dad wanted me to and take a job in their electronics business". Mary looked surprised at what I had just said. "You mean that your parents own Thomas Tech co.?" I nodded. She laughed and said, "Do you think that you could get me a few DVD players?" We both laughed at the statement. I said in a pleasant yet inquisitive tone, "I think that I have said enough about myself so far. How about you?"   
  
Mary lied on the stretcher for a while in silence, probably thinking of what to say. Finally, she started to speak. "Well, working on New Island was my first job. My father is the Commander of--". "--The S.C.O.R.S.?" I said, finishing her sentence. Mary looked surprised that I said that. "How did you--?"I once again cut her off, saying, "--The S.C.O.R.S. have been in the news frequently lately. It's like you cannot go a week without hearing, "The S.C.O.R.S. busted a pokemon stealing ring today", or something like that".   
  
Mary gave me an annoyed look. "Will you stop interrupting my sentences?" I smiled and said, "Fine. I'll stop". My smile half faded as I decided that it time to get more information on New Island and Mewtwo.   
  
"So, why did you decide to work on creating Mewtwo?", I asked while watching Mary's eyes for any hint of lying. Mary said in return, "I thought that it would have been exciting to create a life. I would have never helped out if I knew this would happen". Mary looked away from me, feeling guilty for what she had done.   
  
She continued, "Just imagine the kids that I have left without a dad, the women I have left without a husband and vice versa. The tears that my actions have caused". I thought about placing a hand on her shoulder, but I decided otherwise. It's not like she is my friend, she is just somebody that got lucky to be spotted by me while I was escaping the lab disaster.   
  
Not wanting to let Mary beat herself up like this, I said, "It's not just your fault. I am sure that the scientists knew the risks". She looked back at me with a faint smile. "Thanks for cheering me up, Matt".   
  
It was obvious that it would be best if I changed the subject, but I still wanted to know as much about this as possible. I continued questioning her. "Explain the connection between Dr. Fuji, Team Rocket, and Mewtwo". Mary took a deep breath. This was apparently going to be long.   
  
"Dr. Fuji originally wanted to clone his daughter, Ai". I guess David was right when he said that Dr. Fuji had good intentions. "She recently died in a accident. The problem was, Fuji was low on cash. Giovanni, leader of Team Rocket, agreed to fund Fuji's experiment, but on a condition". Of course. Nothing comes free from Team Rocket. "Fuji would need to create the world's strongest pokemon for Giovanni. Fuji wanted his daughter back very much, so he agreed."   
  
A fossil of Mew was found at a ruin and brought back to the lab. It was used to create Mewtwo. This wasn't tried once though. The attempts to create Mewtwo failed many times. The previous specimens died shortly after being created". How sad. To be given life, only for it to be snatched away. Maybe it is for the best that they died. We don't need so many creatures that are capable of mass destruction and murder.   
  
"So, Dr. Fuji and the other scientists created Ai (Two) and Mewtwo. The records say that Ai (Two) and Mewtwo communicated with each other psychically before Ai (Two) died. After she died, Mewtwo started to go crazy. He was put to sleep before he could do any damage. He slept like that, until today. That's about it, Matt". Interesting. A sleeping god of destruction, who has been awoken.   
  
Before I could respond to that huge piece of information, the sirens stopped, and the medics opened the back door. "Come on, let's go", One of the medics said. They grabbed Mary's stretcher and took her into the hospital, me following close behind. After a few minutes, Mary and me found ourselves in a patient's room on the 20th floor, me sitting in a chair, Mary lying on the bed.   
  
I walked over to the TV in the corner of the room and turned it on, taking the remote on top of it back to the chair with me. The news was on. A male reporter was standing in the middle of a street that looked like it went through one huge riot! Cars were burning, people and pokemon were being taken away on stretchers. Electric signs were in the middle of the street, sparks of electricity coming from them. A sewer manhole was suspended in the air by the sewage that was shooting into the air. To top it off, the street lights were either broken in half or bent out of shape and the traffic lights were in the middle of the street, blinking red and green. Police sirens wailed throughout the whole scene.   
The reporter said, "I am standing here at Scissor Street of Celadon City, where a Team Rocket/Dark Dawn battle happened today. As you can see, the destruction is very widespread. As I speak, shop owners are calling insurance and people and pokemon are being hauled off to hospitals and centers. The battle was ended when both sides of the conflict saw the police moving in".   
  
I changed the channel. Another news program.   
  
The female reporter was standing in front of what looked like a hospital. She said, "I am here in Celadon City for the grand opening of the first pokemon-human hospital ever. The hospital will be named Man-Mon Hospital".   
  
I changed the channel. The Brittany Jackson Show.   
  
"This should be fun", Mary said. "This show is garbage. It is stupid how people are basically judged by a crowd of strangers who probably only know half the story", I said in response.   
  
On the show, a man and a woman were sitting in chairs. The audience was cheering over something. The man looked angry and the woman looked happy and confident.   
  
The man said, "You people aren't listening to me! She cheated on me twice before I cheated on her!" Brittany said, "Well, don't you think you should have left the relationship instead on letting it go on like this?". The audience clapped and screamed. A hand rose out of the audience and Brittany walked over to the person and handed the person the microphone as he stood up. The person said, "I guess your kids will never learn family values. Not with a family like this". The audience clapped.   
  
I couldn't bear it anymore. I changed the channel just to save my brain from rotting anymore. "Hey! I was watching that!" Mary said. "Not anymore", I retorted, waving the controller in Mary's face and pulling it away just as she tried to snatch it.   
  
I clicked through the channels, looking through movies, cartoons, music shows, and so on. I stopped at a movie, which looked like a psyduck/wigglytuff love story, but I continued clicking after I decided that it was absolute crap.   
  
I kept clicking until I saw a huge blue beam of light on screen. It was a news program. The image switched to a reporter was standing at the Fuchsia Beach, speaking. "This was taped today from the coast of Fuchsia City. A huge beam of light coming from somewhere over the sea today. We have no further...wait...I'm getting something". The reporter held a hand over the small headphone in his ear. "This just in! The light came from New Island. The lab that was on New Island has been wiped out!"   
  
A doctor walked into the room. "Hello, miss. I am here to look at your left leg". The doctor began to inspect Mary's leg, finding out what he needed to make the cast like. My attention was still on the TV.   
  
"We have no clue on what could have caused such a catastrophe to occur, but we have sent out investigative teams to the island.   
  
Also, 2 people came to the beach at Fuchsia City today. They were taken to the hospital. Could they be possible survivors of the New Island disaster? We will keep you informed as new information comes up".   
  
I turned my attention to the doctor, who had now gotten all the information on Mary's left leg that he needed. "We'll fit you with a cast in a few minutes. May I get the names of the two of you?" "Matt Thomas". "Mary Angel".   
  
The doctor wrote the names down and started to leave the room when another doctor bumped into him. "We need to get the names of these patients. A lot of people are calling in to see if their friends and/or relatives were the 2 survivors". "Don't worry, I have their names already". The two doctors left the room, leaving me, Mary, and the TV alone once again.   
  
"Did you just see the news?" I asked Mary. Mary responded, "No. I was paying attention to the doctor". "It looks like what happened today just became public information". Mary sighed and said, "It will be only a matter of time before our parents find us". My family. I wanted to see them more than anybody else right now. I needed Mom's comforting. I needed Dad to tell me to toughen up. "Them and the reporters", I added.   
  
Speak of the devil. The moment I finished that sentence, a man in a suit with a microphone busted into the room with a cameraman behind him. The reporter gave the signal to turn the camera on and he began speaking. "This is channel 14 news reporting at Life Hospital in Fuchsia City. We are with", the reporter darted his glance at a sheet, the same sheet the doctor wrote on, then back at the camera,"Matt Thomas and Mary Angel!". The reporter stuck his microphone in my face. "So, how is it to know that you survived a accident that killed many people?"   
  
Before I could voice my anger at this asshole, who thinks that he could just bust into any room and ask people questions after going through something that could stay with them for the rest of their life, the 4 doctors, one of them being the doctor that recorded Mary's left leg conditions and our names, grabbed the men and dragged them out of the room. "Hey! This is going against free speech and press!" the reporter protested. "Don't you have any respect for victims?" one of the doctors said.   
  
Mary and me watched the reporter get dragged from the room. Mary and me looked at each other, sending the same message to each other through our facial expression, "What a bastard". The doctor that we have come to know so well once again came into the room. "We are sorry for that unfortunate disturbance. We will be putting a cast on Ms. Angel now. Mr. Thomas, could you go to the waiting room now?" I nodded and left the room. "Later, Mary", I said.   
  
I walked to the waiting room, and sat down on one of the couches. The couch really felt comfortable. I would just lie back for a while. I sat on the couch and laid back and closed my eyes as I heard the TV in the room. An anchorman said, "Our hearts go out to the people that lost their lives."   
  
Our hearts go out to the people that lost their lives.   
  
****   
  
Darkness. Cold, lonely darkness. I was standing in the darkness. Suddenly, I dim light turns on. It only illuminates a small area. I walked toward the light. Somebody in the light was fighting something in the dark. David? It was David in the light! He was fighting something. I had to help him! I ran toward the dim light where my brother was fighting for his life, but it seemed as if I was going in slow motion! I ran as hard as possible, trying to get to David.   
  
Something caught David by the leg and was dragging him into the darkness. David saw me and started to scream to me. "Matt! Help me! HELP!" "I'm coming David!", I screamed back. I used every ounce of strength in my body to get to him, but by when I finally got there, David was completely pulled into the darkness. "NO! DAVID!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.   
  
As if on cue, the light started to become brighter, showing more and more of the area I was in. I gasped as the light grew to show David, lying in a puddle of blood. His blood. Blood was coming from his mouth and from his stomach. "Why couldn't you save me, Matt?" David said in his last breath. "David . . . . . . . I . . . I". *Yes, why couldn't you save him?* Huh? Where did that echoing voice come from? I looked around the area until the light grew bright enough for me to set my sights on where the voice came from.   
  
My eyes widened in horror as I saw him, Mewtwo, floating in the air, arms folded, smirking evilly at me. I started to run as fast as I could. To my surprise, my normal speed was somehow restored. I ran until something knocked me down. It was as if somebody threw a punching bag at me!   
  
I rolled over to see what had knocked me down. I saw Mewtwo's tail move back from the blow it has just given, to its former position behind him. Before I could get up and start running again, Mewtwo took the open chance and jumped on me, his legs spread across my waist, his hands holding me by the shoulders, pinning me down.   
  
I was frozen, I was scared. Was it my time to die now? Mewtwo moved closer to me until his head was only inches away from mine. I could feel him breathe on my neck and face. I looked straight into those purple eyes. *You couldn't save your brother, and you couldn't save yourself*, Mewtwo said mentally. Here it comes. Here comes the end.   
  
Mewtwo's eyes glowed, as he became even closer to me. He said . . . . .   
  
****   
  
"Matt! Wake up!" I opened my eyes in shock. My vision cleared to reveal Mom, Dad, Gerald, and my best friend, Clark. Mom was in tears as she hugged me. "Oh Matt! I am so happy that you are alive!" Dad and Gerald weren't crying, but they were still happy to see me. "I'm glad that you're safe, son", Dad said. The 4 of us hugged together, Mom crying and me trying to hold back tears. "I'm sorry, but David is dead", I said, coming out of the hug. "We're just happy that one of you survived", Gerald said, beginning to break into tears.   
  
Clark walked over to me and playfully punched me in the shoulder. "I'm glad that you're okay Matt. If you died, I would have to cross off one best friend". I returned the punch and responded, "I'm glad to see you too". I looked at all four of them and said, "You guys don't know how much the sight of you makes things better for me. I . . . . . saw David die. . It was-". "-SShhhhh. Don't worry about it now. You just need to get some rest", Mom said.   
  
"Hey, where is Mary?" I asked. "In her room with her father. Maybe you should go see her", Dad responded. I got off the couch and walked to Mary's room. She and her father, Harold Angel, were both crying while hugging each other? Mr. Angel noticed my presence and looked over to me. He said, "Are you Matt Thomas, the person who saved my daughter?" I nodded. He stopped hugging Mary, and walked over to me. Then, he took my hand and shook it with gratitude etched on his face.   
  
"Thank you. Thank you very much! I don't what I would do if I lost Mary in that horrible accident". It was clear that his commanding position at the S.C.O.R.S. didn't harden his heart toward his daughter. His expression of joy and gratitude became an expression of thinking. "You know, Matt, somebody with your skill might be able to make it in the S.C.O.R.S.".   
  
"Me!?" I said, taken off guard by the comment. "I just got lucky enough to survive the incident". Mr. Angel responded, "It couldn't be luck. Not after what Mary told me. The way you risked your own life to help somebody who was hurt. The way you bravely jumped into the water as the lab exploded. The way you called for medical help the minute you arrived on the beach. That sounds like S.C.O.R.S. material to me".   
  
"Well--", I started to say. "--Listen. You don't need to make a choice now. Think it over". Mr. Angel handed me a card with a number. "I'll think it over, Mr. Angel", I said, pocketing the card.   
  
"Hey Matt, what do you think of the cast?" Mary said, entering the conversation. I looked at the plain, white cast. "It looks like a normal, everyday cast to me", I responded. Mary grabbed a pen from the table sitting next to her and handed to me. "Why don't you sign it?" "Okay, if you want me to", I said. I took the pen and wrote, "Matt T." on the cast. "Thanks", Mary said with a smile.   
  
"I'm going to talk to Matt's parents for awhile", Mr. Angel said. After he left the room, Mary asked me, "So what have you been doing for the last 5 hours?" I said with amazement, "It's been 5 hours?" "Yep", Mary responded. Should I tell her about the nightmare that I had? Maybe it would be best if she didn't know. Well, she has been honest with me so far; I might as well return the favor.   
  
"I had a nightmare about David and Mewtwo. David asked me why was it that I didn't save him. Mewtwo almost killed me", I said.   
  
Mary put a hand on my shoulder. She put her hand on my shoulder. Weren't we just strangers to each other? Maybe we're more than that? "It is just like you told me. David knew the risks". I looked at her hand on my shoulder, and then her face. Into those beautiful blue eyes. It was amazing. I had met the woman today and I think that I am already starting to like her. I wonder how she feels about me.   
  
"Matt? What are you thinking about?" Mary asked. I snapped out of my thinking. "Yeah, there is no reason to think of the what-ifs anymore, There is nowhere to go but forward", I said, pushing the dream to the back of my mind. I looked at the clock. 10:50pm. It was getting late. I might as well call it a day. "Mary, I'm going to go home now. You should be okay here with your dad". "Will you come to see me tomorrow?" Mary asked. I responded with a smile, "Maybe. Later, Mary".   
  
I left the room, waving at Mary. I walked into the waiting room, where my family was talking amongst themselves. Clark was sleeping at the same spot on the couch that I was sleeping at. I walked over to Clark and tapped him on shoulder.   
  
"Wha?" Clark said, waking up. "Hey Clark, can you take me home?" I asked. Clark, still sleepy, said, "Don't you want to go home with your parents?" "I am sure that Dad and Gerald will ask me questions about New Island. I just want to rest", I said. "Are you leaving now, Matt?" Dad asked, looking away from Mr. Angel, who he was talking to. "Yeah, Clark is taking me home, bye", I said, walking away with Clark.   
  
When we arrived at the elevators, I pressed the call button. I walked over to a nearby window and looked out the city. It was a beautiful site. I saw lights turn off and on in the buildings in the distance, people walking on the sidewalks while talking to each other, and cars driving by, their headlights and streetlights illuminating the streets. Boats sailed by on the building-illuminated water while an airplane flew in the sky.   
  
Clark, who was leaning on the wall nearby, walked over to me and looked out the window with me. "It's a beautiful site, isn't it?" I asked looking over to Clark. "It is, but you should see Neon, Hop Hop Hop, and Celadon", Clark responded. With a chime, an elevator door opened. We took our eyes off of the night skyline and walked into the elevator. After Clark pressed the button for the first floor, the elevator doors closed and the elevator began it's descent from the 20th floor to the 1st.   
  
Clark looked over from the button panel and said, "We are going out the back and sneaking to my car in the front of the hospital. There are still a bunch of reporters and people hanging around". I nodded. The last thing I want now is to have 15 reporters sticking their cameras and microphones in my face.   
  
We walked out the back door and started sneaking behind cars to Clark's car. "SSsshhhh. Don't say anything, don't make any noise. One screw up and they'll be all over you". Sneaking like this was exciting yet pressuring. Exciting that I was sneaking by the people, and pressuring that any second, they could spot me. As we quietly moved from car to car, I heard the people waiting at the front door. "I just want to know if he saw how my son died", a man said. "He can't stay in there forever!" a cameraman said.   
  
Clark silently laughed. Too bad he didn't notice the pop bottle in front of him. "Clark! Look Out!" I whispered. It was too late. Clark slipped on the bottle and slipped into a car, setting the car's alarm off. The group of people looked in the direction of the car with the alarm that went off, spotting us. "That's him over there!" a reporter screamed. Clark and me ran at full speed to his car. "It's over there!" Clark screamed. Clark whipped out his car remote, unlocking the car.   
  
We jumped into the car just as the mob of people surrounded the car. "Mr Thomas. Tell us about this traumatizing situation", a reporter said through the closed car windows. "Please! Tell me my boy's last words!" an old woman said. I screamed to Clark, "Start the damn car!" "Hold on!" Clark responded. With a roar, the car activated.   
  
"Go!" I screamed, afraid that any second, the mass of people would break through the windows and drag me out. "Just hold on. I can't just ram into these people you know", Clark responded. The car slowly backed out of its parking space, pushing people aside as it went. As soon as the car was out of the parking spot it was previously in and people weren't in its path, Clark made the car practically fly out of the parking lot and into the streets, the mob of people pathetically trying to run after us.   
  
Clark looked into the car door mirror and smiled. "Ha! Look at those fools!" News Vans and other cars came screeching out of the parking lot, coming in our direction. "They may not be so foolish, Clark", I said, looking at the speeding vehicles. " . . . . . . .. I have an idea!", Clark said with a smile. "What is it?", I said, still looking at the cars that were closing in.   
  
Clark drove the car onto the onramp for the bridge to Celadon City. I screamed, "Clark! We can't go there! It is 11:15pm! A boat is supposed to.........You aren't about to. . ?" Clark nodded, his smile growing wider.   
  
The lane ahead was packed with cars, thanks to the boat that was about to come though. Clark turned the car out of the right lane onto the left lane. "Clark, think about this!" I said. I wasn't sure whom I was supposed to be scared of anymore. Clark or the mob of people?   
  
I looked into the car mirror again. Most of the cars chasing us have backed off by now. Only a few news vans were still giving chase. The raised part of the bridge was coming closer. Clark had the car going as fast as the engine would allow it to. We blazed onto the ramp, only one news van following now.   
  
I noticed that Clark was going straight and realised what would happen if we went off the ramp like this. "Clark! We're going to crash into the cars on the left lane at the other side of the bridge!" Clark realised the mistake he had made and turned right just as the car went flying off the ramp.   
  
The next 10 seconds seemed like 20 seconds. Clark and me screamed at the top of our lungs as we flew over the boat below the raised bridge. Suddenly, the car landed on the right lane of the other side of the bridge. We both looked back to see that the one news van that didn't give up on chasing us, had made the jump with us and landed on the cars in the left lane, completely unable to move now.   
  
"WOOHOO!" Clark and me screamed in unison. "Clark, that was so sweet!" I screamed happily. I thought about how good I was at sneaking by the mob by using the parked cars. "Maybe Mr. Angel was right when he said that I might go far with the S.C.O.R.S.", I said. Clark took half of his attention of the wheel and looked at me. "Mr. Angel made a offer to you to join the S.C.O.R.S.? Damn, you must be good if the Commander himself is looking at you".   
  
"I don't know if I should join", I said. Clark responded with enthusiasm, "I say go for it. I am planning on joining the S.C.O.R.S. tomorrow". "Why?" I asked. "Because it'll make me feel like I'm doing good things for all people", Clark said. "Even if it is risking your life?" I responded. "Sure, like the S.C.O.R.S. have any casualties", Clark responded. "It's serious, Clark. You could get killed!" I responded, wondering if Clark cared about living. I doubted it, considering the stunt he just pulled.   
"So, are you and Mary together?" Clark said playfully. "I don't know. I just met her today, but I really do like her", I said back. "Then say you love her and get it over with. There is no point in hiding it", Clark said. "Are you sure about that?" I questioned. "Is my name Clark Silver?" Clark retorted with a smirk.   
  
Clark's happy victorious mood faded into a more serious mood. "So, what happened on New Island?" Clark asked. I told him everything that happened on New Island. When I was done, he just placed a hand on my shoulder and said, "I'm sorry, man".   
About 30 minutes later, we stopped at my house in Cerulean. I lived in an upper middle class neighborhood. I could have just taken a mansion from Mom and Dad like Gerald did, but I wanted to earn my house and things instead of getting it the easy way.   
  
"Later Matt. Don't worry, It'll be okay in the end", were the last words that I heard Clark say before he drove away, into the darkness of the night. I looked around. Thank God. Nobody was at my house trying to interview me. I had to admit, Clark did a good job shaking the reporters and family members of the dead workers on New Island.   
  
I walked through my house. As usual, Raichu and Primeape were sleeping on the couch in front of the TV that was still on while Flareon was sleeping on the floor.   
  
Rick Ruben was on. They were showing the footage from the cameraman that was with the reporter that busted in on Mary and me earlier. Rick commented, "Wow. Beware people. The doctors at this hospital double as bouncers".   
  
I turned the TV off and walked upstairs. Pidgeot was resting on its perch in its room, and Blastoise was sleeping in its room, head, arms, and legs hidden within its shell. The TV in its room was on too. I sighed, and walked into its room. I made my way to the TV, being careful not to wake Blastoise. Finally, I made it to the TV. Rick Ruben was also on this TV.   
  
"In fact, the New Island explosion was so big, that the Pokemon League fireworks engineers said, "We're screwed", Ruben said. The audience laughed as the show showed a scene of a group of fireworks engineers pointed to the blue tower of light and went, "OOOOooooo! AAAAAhhhh!"   
  
I sighed and turned the TV off. Other trainers would have laughed at me for making my pokemon so comfortable at my house. I decided that I was never going to be like the men at the fair, and if I have to pamper my pokemon, then so be it.   
  
Finally, I got to my room. I took off my clothes, which consisted of blue jeans, a red short sleeve shirt with a vertical white stripe on the right side of the shirt, white socks and gym shoes, and the lab coat that David had gotten me today. I took off the lab coat and looked at it, holding it up by the shoulders. "David's last gift to me", I said to myself.   
  
When I was down to my underwear and t-shirt, I jumped in bed. Just as I was about to go to sleep, I remembered my answering machine. It must be completely filled now. I reached over and activated the answering machine.   
  
As I guessed, the machine was full of messages. Most of the messages were either, "Please tell me about my son/daughter/dad/mom/uncle/aunt's last moments", or,"Channel (insert number here) would like to interview you on your courageous story".   
  
I didn't care at all for the reporters. All they wanted is to have the story first so they could end up with the biggest paycheck. They would probably ask me questions like, "How was it to see so many people be slaughtered?" In my mind. The reporters are just there to feed off the problems of others, just like Brittany Jackson.   
  
I did feel sympathy for the other people. All they want is some closure on their relatives' life. How will they feel when I say that I can't tell them how their relatives died or their last words? Will they feel as empty and alone as I am now that David is dead?   
There was one message that caught my attention. It was the latest message. It went:   
  
Matthew Thomas   
It was an interesting day for you, wasn't it? You are invited to the Viridian City Gym tomorrow to witness our newest and strongest pokemon. Also, the Gym leader would like to make a deal with you. If you are interested, be at the Viridian City Pokemon Center at 3:00pm tomorrow. Thank You.   
  
-Team Rocket   
  
End Chapter 2 


	3. Chapter 3: Loss

Chapter 3 

  
  
"Would you like anything other than that shake, sir?". "No, thank you".   
  
The waitress left my table, holding the sheet that had my order in her hand. I drank some of the water that all customers get automatically for ordering and once again concentrated my attention on the Viridian City Pokemon Center.   
  
I had been sitting there, at a table at the outside dining area of the restaurant for an hour, looking at the pokemon center that was across the street. I sat in the shade of the umbrella that was in the middle of the table that I was sitting at. I had decided that it would be a smarter move for me to not be in the pokemon center, in case Team Rocket had the plan of blowing the place up when I arrived.   
  
I took another sip of the water and looked at my wrist watch. 2:38pm. I knew that the designated time was 3:00pm, but I had decided to come an hour early. I wanted to make sure that I made contact with Team Rocket, and that they weren't going to try to hide any snipers just before I arrived.   
  
The thought of them attempting to silence me ran rampant through my mind for the whole day, but I was determined to go anyway. I was determined to get to the bottom of David's death. I was determined to take revenge for his death. I won't let them think that they can kill my brother and get away with it. I won't let Rocket and Mewtwo laugh and spit in my face.   
  
I drank alittle more of the water.   
  
I looked at the people walking by, going on about their daily lives. Children going home from school, adults coming to and from their jobs, and pokemon trainers taking their pokemon to the pokemon center.   
  
For the whole hour I have been there, I have seen alot of pokemon trainers rush through the streets in a panic to get their pokemon to the center. "Get out of the way now!", or ," I need to get this pokemon to the center now!", is what they would scream most of the time, or something similar. Also, I have seen ambulances rush to the pokemon center. They all came from the direction of the Viridian City Gym. Either they were very bad trainers, or there was a pokemon at that gym that was far too powerful than their pokemon. A pokemon that could decimate a whole island lab.   
  
I drank some more of the water.   
  
I took off my belt and placed it on the table. I stared at the 5 pokeballs attached to the belt. Would Raichu, Primeape, Flareon, Pidgeot, and Blastoise be able to stop Mewtwo? I shook my head while placing the palm of my hand on my forehead. Of course five pokemon could beat one.   
  
I caught all of them by myslef. I was proud to have such great pokemon. I carefully chose which ones to capture so I would always have a pokemon for any situation. I wanted to get a psychic or ghost pokemon, but ghost pokemon were too much of a hassle to capture. They would probably play dirty jokes on you while you try to catch them. Also, I heard that you need you have psychic powers to control a psychic pokemon.   
  
I drank the rest of the water.   
  
I had cleared my head on what happened 15 years ago. I had decided that as long as I was good to my pokemon and not cold and cruel to them like the workers were at that fair, that I could be a pokemon trainer. Not all pokemon trainers are like that, I know it because I'm not like them.   
  
"Your vanilla shake, sir". "Thanks".   
  
Alex. Where was he? Was he still alive? Does he still hate me and the rest of the family? I wish that I knew where he was. I don't care if I would learn that he is currently in a dumpster, dead in the back of a pokemon items store or in a coma at a hospital. I just wanted closure to that question, which has haunted at me for 15 years.   
  
I picked up the shake and began to drink it.   
  
Hospital. Mary. I wonder if she is doing okay right now. Why do I care if she is doing okay? I just met her yesterday! But it seems as if I like her. Could I say that I.....love her? I guess David knew what he was doing when he showed her to me. I also guess that love at first sight has some meaning. Or should that be, love at first rescue from death?   
  
I drank more of the shake.   
  
I reached into my jacket pocket and placed the S.C.O.R.S. card that I had recieved on the table. Mary's dad said that I should join. Should I? I thought that luck was on my side when I survived New Island. After he told me everything that I did, I couldn't help but be alittle impressed with myslef. Maybe it was impressive that I saved Mary like that. But if I'm so impressive, why couldn't I save David?   
  
David, I'm sorry. If only I....no. I can't blame myslef. He knew the risks. Every scientist that worked there knew the risks. How would I look If I blamed myself for David's death after what I told Mary last night?   
  
I drank more of the shake.   
  
The dream I had. Was it a fortelling of things to come? Was I going to die by the same three fingered hands that by brother did? I was terrified at the bleeding corpse of David in my dream. Will that eventually be me?   
  
A bus drove by as I continued drinking the shake.   
  
The reporters. They just won't be satisfied until I let them know what happened. They bothered me again this morning. I had to secretly take a bus to Viridian so the reporters wouldn't be able to follow me here. I don't need the reporters questioning me on my meeting with Team Rocket. They would probably ask something like, "Has your brother's death turned you to a life of crime with Team Rocket?".   
  
A police car drove by as I finished the shake.   
  
The police weren't helpful to me in anyway. I tried to ask for some assistance so I would be safer around Team Rocket, but they refused. They said that they didn't think that there was enough reason to do so. What kind of an excuse is that? I just survived the destruction of a Team Rocket funded lab! I think that something like that would justify making a few officers watch me. The idiots.   
  
I placed the shake on the table and looked into the reflective windows of the restaurant. A 25 year old with brown hair and blue eyes, who looked pysically healthy, who was wearing blue jeans and a red short sleve shirt with a vertical red stripe on the right side stared back at me. Hanging on his chair was a jacket which was black and white. The black colored the sleves, the shoulders, the zipper, the pocket openings, the chest area, and the upper back area. The rest of the jacket was white. On the person's table were two empty cups, a belt with five pokeballs, and a card.   
  
I sighed as I took my eyes off my reflection and back onto the pokemon center. Life used to be so simple. I wanted to be a pokemon master. Pokemon training and family were the only important things to think about. Now, there is Mary, getting a job besides pokemon training, Team Rocket, family, getting a job and Mewtwo. I wish that I could have the simple life back.   
  
Suddenly, the two 64 inch TVs that were placed at the front the the restaurant for the outdoor customers' pleasure activated. Both TVs showed the same channel, which had a news program on. An anchor woman was sitting at a desk, papers in her hand. A giant Channel 25 sign sat behind her.   
  
The woman began to speak. "Well, it's been an exciting week for news. So far, we have the lab incident, the Scissor Rocket/Dawn fight, and the opening of the the first Pokemon/Human hospital. Well, we have even more news for you to see today.   
  
The battle between the world and the I.P.S. or the Independent Pokemon Society continues. As you should remember, the I.P.S. is a group of pokemon that have refused to live with the rest of humanity. Currently, the I.P.S. is colonized on a what you could call a flying city. The city is located somewhere over the ocean, but we have no idea where it exactly is. We believe that some kind of scrambling device is being used to keep the city from the detection of our satellites and radars.   
  
Now while you could say, "So? What if a few pokemon want to live in a city in the sky?", that is simply not the case. Recently, several pokemon have been disappearing around the world. It was originally thought that Team Rocket or even Rocket's newest rival, Dark Dawn could be behind this, it was later revealed that Team Rocket and Dark Dawn were taking heavy pokemon loses due to the disappearances.   
  
At this point, the only thing that we can possibly point our fingers at is the I.P.S.. Government officials from around the world seem to be doing the same. The mayor of Saffron City was quoted on saying, "I don't believe this. It seems as if the pokemon are finally fed up with being controlled by humans and are leaving us. I'll tell you this, Silph Co. won't like it that their pokeball industries may be in trouble".   
  
The military advisor of Pewter City had this to say". The camera switched to a man in a military uniform. "What scares me is the fact that anyday, the I.P.S. could swoop down and attack us. If a bunch of tentacools and tentacruels can lay all of Porta Vista to waste, imagine what could happen if thousands, maybe millions of pokemon turned upon humans, the results would be devestating".   
  
"The military commander of Pewter City had this to say", the anchorwoman said. The camera switched again to another man in a military uniform. "We have nothing to fear. I am confident that our military forces combined with the forces of the rest of the continent could easily crush any pokemon resistance".   
  
The camera returned to the anchor woman. "As surprising as it seems, the I.P.S., a group of pokemon that are obviously against humanity, is gaining human supporters". The camera switched to groups of people in the streets, holding up signs that said, "Ban the ball!", and ,"pokemon are people too!". "In recent weeks, there have been protests at pokemon centers, gyms, and shops. The police, military, and even the S.C.O.R.S. have been called in to dissolve the protests".   
  
The camera switched to a protester who was being dragged toward a police car. "You think that you are so tough with your guns and pokeballs! Without those, you would be completely defenseless!". "That is what a protestor screamed as he was shoved into a police car by two police officers", the anchor woman said.   
  
The camera switched to pokemon trainers and nurses leaving a pokemon center, walking through the crowd of protesters, and entering police vans while being guarded by policemen with automatic rifles. "The pokemon trainers, gym leaders, nurses, and shop owners had to be escorted from the area by police, military and S.C.O.R.S. forces".   
  
The camera switched to another person being shoved into a car. "You call pokemon the weak creatures, yet you can't even fight them yourselves!". The anchor woman said, "This is what a protestor screamed as he was also forced into a police car after attacking a pokemon trainer.   
  
The city government officials have all decided on increasing protection for the pokemon centers, gyms, and shops. At this point, the continental government officials are considering a plan to what you could call, commit catchocide. What this means is that if this plan is given a green light, the government would proceed to capture all wild pokemon on sight.   
  
We'll have more information as it comes. We'll go to commercial now. When we come back, we'll tell you about how a trainer claims to spot Mew flying towards the Everwhite Mountains and the full list of families that lost a loved one from the New Island disaster".   
  
A horn yanked my attention from the TV and onto a black limo. A hand reached out from the passenger's window and motioned for me to come in. I stood up from the chair, collected my pokebelt and S.C.O.R.S. card, and put on my jacket. After leaving payment for the drinks and a tip, I left the table and entered the passenger's part of the limo. This was it. My first encounter with Team Rocket.   
  
When I entered the limo, the first thing I noticed were the confortable surroundings. The seats were padded with leather, there were bottles of wine in a cooler to the side, and there was a 19 inch TV hanging from the ceiling. I could easily get something like this through my dad, but I didn't want to be pampered.   
  
"I see that you like my limo, Mr. Thomas". My eyes stopped wandering around the inside of the limo and concentrated on the source of the voice. The voice belonged to a man in a red dress suit, who was petting a persian. "Giovanni, I presume?", I asked. The man nodded and held out a hand. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Thomas". Giovanni took his hand back when he realised that I wasn't going to shake it. "I wish that I could say the same", I said, placing one hand on the handle of the door.   
  
"I'm sorry about your brother. If it makes things any better, I'll be at his funeral. That is, if his body can be found and recongnized", Giovanni said, petting his persian again with the hand that he previously held out to me. "So tell me Giovanni. How good is the health plan for jobs in your orgainization?", I said, making a fake smile. "There always a risk of death when you work for Team Rocket. Your brother was just unlucky enough to risk his life and lose it".   
  
"Sir, the news is back on!", The driver said, letting down his window to the passenger's section of the limo. "Turn it on", Giovanni commanded. The Driver nodded and raised the window. The TV clicked to life, showing a scrolling list of names. Norton, Versile, Tetserougi, Egger, Griffen, Thomas....Thomas?   
  
"As you can see, Mr. Thomas, many people have died in the incident. You aren't the only person who is breathing down my neck", Giovanni said. I looked at the format of the list and recognized where the list was from. It was from the news program that I was watching earlier. They were showing the list of famiies.   
  
Sounds of ambulances pierced the limo as they sped by. Giovanni continued, letting the persian off his lap and onto the floor to take a nap. "You see Mr. Thomas, the only difference between those people and you is that you saw what happened on that island". Giovanni reached into his suit jacket. "You see, it would make things more complicated if you spoke about what happened on New Island". I held the door handle tight. Giovanni was going to kill me in his own limo!   
  
"Sir, we're at the gym", the driver said, letting down his window again. "Good, we can continue this inside the gym", Giovanni said, taking his hand away from inside his red suit jacket. Great. He is going to kill me in his gym instead!   
  
Loud sounds rang through my ears as I stepped out of the limo. I looked over to Giovanni, who was looking at the beaten trainers. "Please, get my pokmon to the center quickly!", was one of the things that the trainers shouted as pokemon by the dozens were being placed into ambulances. A little girl cried as she held her vilepume tight. "Please don't die on me", the girl said, tears streaking down her cheeks. "Somebody give this Machamp CPR!", A trainer screamed.   
  
"Inferior trainers", Giovanni said as he turned from the beaten trainers and walked towards the castle of a gym, his persian following him. Giovanni stoped and looked at me out the corner of his eye. "Well, don't stand there. Follow me". I took my gaze off the trainers and started following Giovanni.   
  
I placed a hand on my pokeballs. If those trainers were beaten so badly by whatever Giovanni is fighting with in there, how will I do? It's pretty obvious that Giovanni is using Mewtwo if so many trainers are being beaten. Some of those trainers have probably gotten all of the badges. I only have a cascade and boulder. How can I expect to win?   
  
As I followed Giovanni, I looked around. In the front of me, was the gym. To my left were the beaten trainers. To my right were reporters and trainers who didn't battle yet, being held back by rocket members. "Hey, that's Thomas!", a reporter screamed. "Mr. Thomas, are you joining Team Rocket because of your brother's death?", another reporter asked. I let out a small smirk. I must be a psychic.   
  
I followed Giovanni into the gym. The hallway was designed with white wallpaper with a gold trim, a purple carpet, and various chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. The halls were decorated with various art pictures and statues. A noticable amount of this art were self portraits of Giovanni. Nothing wrong with self admiration, I suppose. "I take it you like my self portraits?", Giovanni said, looking at me out the corner of his eye. "They're interesting", I responded, taking my eyes off the art and looking for a way to escape.   
  
Damn. There were rocket members at every door and window. I should have taken my chances outside. At least Giovanni wouldn't have been able to shoot me without consequences outside.   
  
Eventually, we left the hallway and a entered a room. The room had 2 chairs and a table. The chair farthest from me, the one Giovanni and his persian were making their way to, was right infront of a balcony. Red curtains were on the side of the balcony, but I couldn't see what was beyond the balcony. At the top of the room hung an expensive looking chandelier, better than the ones in the hallway. On the side of the wall hung a picture of Giovanni sitting at a chair, smiling at the beholder while petting his persian. There was white wallpaper with gold trim and purple carpet, just like in the hallway.   
  
Giovanni sat in his seat and said, "Sit down, Mr. Thomas". I glanced around the room for any traps, and then sat in the second chair. I made sure to sit on the edge of the chair, in case Giovanni was going to try to lock me to the chair by using cuffs that came from the chair.   
  
Giovanni reached into his dress suit jacket again, saying, "As I said earlier, it makes things more difficult for you to be talking about this situation". I braced myslef. The second he reveals the gun, I'll run like hell. That won't work. He would probably shoot me in the head before I get out the room! If I do get out the room, I'll be swamped by dozens of rocket members. I was starting to regret entering the limo.   
  
Giovanni pulled an object from his suit jacket and placed it on the table. "I understand that you are a pokemon trainer. If you keep quiet about all of this, I'll give you this earth badge". Forget all about the death of many just for a badge? Forget about their pain, their suffering for a badge? There is no way that I will let Giovanni bribe me like this! "Sorry, I like to earn my badges", I responded. "Perhaps you need some convincing. Come over here, Mr. Thomas", Giovanni said, placing the badge back in his suit jacket.   
  
Giovanni turned his seat toward the balcony. Giovanni moved back a part of the chair's armrest to reveal a control panel. He pressed a button on the control panel. "Send in the next trainer", Giovanni said, while I took my place next his chair, looking over the balcony. I saw that a pokemon battle arena was what was beyond the balcony.   
  
The huge double doors at the back of the arena opened. A woman with 2 pokeballs on her belt walked through the door. The woman had red hair that reached down to her neck, green eyes, and a good figure. She wore a blue T-shirt, black jeans, and black gym shoes.   
  
"I have come to challenge you!", the woman yelled, pointing to Giovanni. "Really? I thought you were here to give me the pizza that I had just ordered", Giovanni said sarcastically. "If it makes you feel better, you can use the 2 of your pokemon to battle my pokemon. It only makes things go by quicker", Giovanni said with a smirk. "Hey it's your funeral", the woman said, smirking back.   
  
The woman took her place on the field, one pokeball in one hand, one pokeball in the other. Giovanni pressed a button on his chair control panel. I felt a slight shaking sensation below me. "What is that?", I asked. "My pokemon", Giovanni responded. "Don't you have other pokemon?", I asked. "Yes, but I want to get this over with as quickly as possible", Giovanni replied.   
  
I took a look at the woman's face. Her look of confidence quickly changed to a look a shock. She quickly took out her pokedex and pointed it at whatever was below me and Giovanni. Giovanni chuckled. "Don't tell me that you quit". The woman looked up at Giovanni and said, "I'm not quiting! I'm going to take out that robot thing!".   
  
The woman threw her pokeballs. A pikachu and a raichu appeared. Thoughts of the rapping pikachu and raichu flashed through my mind. "Pikachu! Raichu! Thundershock now!", the woman commanded. Giovanni merely snapped his fingers.   
  
The electric energy that the pikachu and raichu projected to the pokemon that was under me and Giovanni was instantly thrown back at them. The pikachu and raichu were knocked to the ground by their own blasts. The woman looked shocked at what had just happened. It wasn't long before they rose to their feet.   
  
"Pikachu! Raichu! Quick Attack!", the woman yelled. The two mouse pokemon started to dash to Giovanni's pokemon, but were stopped when blue energy surrounded them. The two pokemon's heads were bashed together repeatedly, The woman cringing every time their heads made contact. When the energy disappeared from around them, they fell to the ground, beaten, and possibly dead. "NOOOOO!", The woman screamed as she ran to her fallen pokemon.   
  
Giovanni turned to me in his chair and said, "Make your choice, Mr. Thomas". Giovanni pointed to the woman, who was crying while holding her pokemon in the middle of the batte arena. "You can either end up like that, or just take the badge".   
  
The two pokemon were absolutely destroyed. How could I win? I have trained my pokemon for the past 15 years. They could surely handle this...could they? Giovanni was probably thinking that he is going to scare me out of opposing him. He's had another thing coming.   
  
"I challenge you for the badge!", I said. "Very well. If you desire for your pokemon to get hurt, You get it", Giovanni said, snapping his fingers. Three rocket members appeared on the arena, taking the woman and the 2 pokemon away. Two members appeared behind me. Giovanni said, "Take him downstairs". The members nodded and escorted me out of the room.   
  
"So, Giovanni is a great employer, huh?", I said sarcastically as the 3 of us walked down the staircase to the arena. They remained silent, as if I never said anything. I looked around the staircase. It had the same white wall paper with a gold trim and purple carpet as in the hallways. "So why do you work for Team Rocket?", I continued. Still silence. "So, aren't you sick of that motto? Really, how many times can you say prepare to fight without going crazy?". Nothing. Gee, these guys were really talkative. Normally, I wouldn't have said anything to them, but now, things were different. I was trying to start some kind of conversation to try to get my mind off the fear that was building inside of me.   
  
Finally, the staircase ended and the arena was right in front of me. The two members nodded and walked back up the stairs. I took my place at the arena, trying not to show any fear of what was behind the door that was under the balcony. I looked around the arena. Giovanni did a good job designing it. The huge double doors and the the balcony upon which Giovanni sat did a good job of making you feel like you were nothing.   
  
"Let's begin", Giovanni said as he pressed a button on his chair. The metal door that was infront of me raised slowly. I took my pokeball from my belt on pure instinct. The instinct of defense. When the door completely raised, I at first saw a robotic pokemon. As my eyes concentrated on it's form, I realised that I was standing across from Mewtwo in armor. "Let's make it a five on one match, Mr. Thomas", Giovanni said. I didn't like it that Giovanni was willing to let five pokemon battle one, but I wasn't about to pass up the chance.   
  
I threw all of my pokeballs screaming, "Raichu! Primeape! Flareon! Pidgeot! Blastoise! Go!". The 5 pokemon appeared on the arena, ready to fight. "Your move, Mr. Thomas", Giovanni said, petting his persion, who had just jumped on his lap. It was simple. Just use Raichu, Blastoise, and Flareon to fire something at MewTwo. While he is occupied, I will send in Pidgeot and Primeape to hit him!   
  
"Flareon, Fire Blast! Blastoise, Water Gun! Raichu, Thunderbolt!", I screamed. As the 3 pokemon charged their attacks, I yelled to Primeape and Pidgeot, "Get ready to give me a Karate Chop and Quick Attack!". The two pokemon nodded. Giovanni smirked. "How sad, putting so much energy and planning into something that you can't win", he said as he petted his persian.   
  
Flareon, Blastiose, and Raichu attacked. A stream of electricity, fire, and water crossed the arena, heading straight towards Mewtwo. Primeape and Pidgeot followed closely behind, preparing to launch their attacks. With mere seconds left before the three blast made impact, Mewtwo shot his hand up from his side and pointed it at the blasts.   
  
The blasts instantly turned around and went back to their source. Primeape and Pidgeot narrowly escaped being hit by the returning blasts. The blasts switched order and hit the pokemon with the weakest resistance to them. Flareon was hit with the water gun, Blastoise was hit with the thundershock, and Raichu was hit with the fire blast. All three pokemon where sent wailing into the wall behind them.   
  
Primeape and Pidgeot closed in on their target. Primeape jumped in the air, drawing back it's arm for the oncoming chop. Pidgeot flew higher above Mewtwo, gaining speed as it targeted Mewtwo's chest for it's beak to impale. Mewtwo once again raised his hand, this time at the two charging pokemon. Blue energy surrounded them as they were suspended in mid air.   
  
I looked at what was happening in shock. This couldn't be happening! The pokemon that I have spent the last 15 years training, all put to shame by one pokemon. ONE! Mewtwo reached back for a moment, then shot his hand out again. Pimeape and Pidgeot went flying across the room, screaming all the way. They smashed into the wall and slid down it to where the rest of my pokemon lay. Bits and pieces of the wall fell from where their bodies smashed into the wall and fell upon Primeape and Pidgeot.   
  
"I don't think that you've been convinced enough", Giovanni said, smiling down on me. "Finish them off, Mewtwo", Giovanni said while snapping his fingers. Mewtwo's eyes glowed behind the visors on his helmet. Those glowing eyes pierced my soul, bringing out what I had forgotten during the battle. Fear. The blue energy surrounded all of my bruised, battered pokemon. All of them went flying into the walls, the ceiling, and the floor. All of them yelled in pain as they were thrown around the arena.   
  
"Stop it", I said. The beating continued. My pokemon continued to be thrown around the room. I clenched my fist and yelled, "STOP IT!". Giovanni gave me a smile and snapped his fingers. All of my pokemon fell to the floor, except Blastoise who was already slammed into the floor. The scene that I beheld almost made me cower in total fear. All my pokemon, bleeding, near death, all fallen by the hands of Giovanni's pokemon. All fallen by the hands of Mewtwo. I fell to my knees, my hands on the ground, fighting it back, fighting back the tears, fighting back the fear.   
  
"Here, take the badge", Giovanni said, throwing the badge from his seat in the balcony to me. The badge glimmered through the air, landing a few inches away from me. I looked down at the badge and picked it up. I began to clip the badge onto the inside of my jacket, but it spoke to me. "Go ahead and take me, you whimp. You know that you will never get me the fair way, Mewtwo is too strong for the likes of you!", the badge said.   
  
I threw the badge to the floor. Badges weren't meant to be given through mercy, they are supposed to be earned. I won't take Giovanni's bone. I rose to my feet and stomped on the badge as hard as possible. "No! I won't take the badge! I don't need your mercy! I'll earn that badge the real way! I'll beat Mewtwo! When I do, I'll kill him and you, you bastard!". My eyes had no trace of fear anymore. Only pure hate.   
  
"My my, Mr. Thomas. Aren't we touchy?", Givoanni said, snapping his fingers. The sound of those snapping fingers echoed through my head and the arena. That simple sound had caused my pokemon to go trough absolute hell. The sound was so simple, yet from Giovanni, the sound brought on destruction. Twelve members appeared behind me. I didn't notice them coming until they were right behind me.   
  
"If you want no mercy, you will get none. Take him away", Giovanni said. Two of the twelve men grabbed me by the arms and forced me to walk with them to double doors. The other ten were picking up my pokemon and carrying them away with me.   
  
"Just ask yourself this, Mr. Thomas. What will you do? Do you think that you can slap murder charges on me or my pokemon? How can you do that when you have no solid evidence? How can you do that when I own this town? The police. The mayor. They are all my puppets. You are powerless, Mr. Thomas. You are beaten", Giovanni said.   
  
I was speechless. I tried to think of something to say, anything, but there was nothing to say. I and my pokemon were taken out of the double doors, into the crowd of reporters and trainers.   
  
  
"I'm sorry sir", the doctor told me as I sat in the chair. "These pokemon were beaten bsdly. Very badly. A normal healing just won't do it in this case. We can give you no confirmation that all you pokemon will survive. Heck, we can't give you confirmation that any of them will survive". "I understand doctor", said, looking toward the floor.   
  
I was now in the pokemon center waiting room at 5:00pm. It seems as if every other minute, I saw a doctor moving something covered with a sheet on a table, a trainer following, completely in tears. "Please! It can't be! It is alive! Just try harder!", or ,"It is just faking! I know it is", or ,"Why dammit!? Why!?", were phrases that I had constantly heard in the last 20 minutes.   
  
I looked over the sheet that the doctors gave me of damages my pokemon took. Raichu had a cracked skull. Primeape's arms and legs were broken. Flareon's forearms were broken and it's ribs were cracked. Pidgeot's Wings were broken. Blastoise's shell was cracked. They all had cases of Internal Bleeding.   
  
I put the paper down and buried my face in my hands. I was beaten. Giovanni and Mewtwo won. It was all over for me. How could I keep fighting if my pokemon can't do the fighting? How can I get my revenge? I took my face from my hands and looked over to my jacket, which was on the chair next to me. I reached in and pulled out a card. The card had the only option for me now.   
  
I left the chair and walked over to the videophone. I took the phone in my hand, activated the screen and dialed the number on the card. 3 beeps passed before a voice and a pretty face replied. "S.C.O.R.S. registration. How may I help you?". "Hello, my name is Matthew Thomas and I want to join".   
  
  
End Chapter 3 

http://www.mewtwob.com


End file.
